Athrun Zala Sorties

After Rau Le Creuset finished speaking, Athrun Zala did not hesitate for even a moment, nor did he look back at Rau Le Creuset.

With unquestionable resolve and cold determination, he turned and left through the bridge's wide metal hatch without looking back.

The door slowly hissed shut behind him, completely swallowing Athrun's retreating figure.

On the bridge, only Captain Rau Le Creuset remained. Wearing his mask, he stood silently in place like a statue. Beneath that mask, his face seemed to carry an indescribably complex contemplation.

The Mass Accelerator... this strategic objective embodied the core conflict and struggle between ZAFT and the Earth Alliance.

It was not merely a route into space, but the key to seizing the initiative in future wars.

Not long ago, the ZAFT Forces had poured everything into successfully capturing the Earth Alliance's strategic stronghold, Panama Base.

Panama possessed the Earth Forces' only intact "Space Window," capable of continuously sending supplies and fresh troops to the space colonies to fight P.L.A.N.T.—the all-important orbital Mass Accelerator!

The fall of Panama meant that the Earth Alliance had been completely trapped within the enormous "cage" of Earth. It had lost its constant strategic supply line, as well as the crucial advantage of directly replenishing and maintaining its space fleets.

The cost of that victory had been enormous. Yet ZAFT's high command and every officer knew that it had been worth it. With the Earth Alliance completely trapped on Earth, the first—and most logical—military action it would take in such desperate circumstances would undoubtedly be to try to retake the Mass Accelerator at Victoria Base, which ZAFT currently controlled.

Located in North Africa, Victoria also possessed a Mass Accelerator capable of sending supplies into space.

Its importance to ZAFT was no less than Panama's importance to the Earth Alliance.